Aplicação de enriquecimento ambiental para pequenos felinos cativos no Parque Arruda Câmara, a Bica, em João Pessoa/PB.

Abstract

Currently the zoos are not only a place for animal exhibitions, but it is also a place for species conservation, environmental education and to develop a healthy relationship between man and nature. However, a captive environment do not bring enough stimulus, thus provoking inconvenience to the animal. Aiming to minimize the stress caused by animal inactivity, the execution of environmental enrichment might be an important strategy that might increase its welfare levels. In this way, the purpose of this work is to identify which type of environmental enrichment have a higher level of positive interaction for small cats kept in captivity. The animals used in this study are the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) and the little spotted cat (Leopardus tigrinus), kept at Arruda Câmara Park, and located at João Pessoa/PB. It was developed a behavioral table for the enrichment effects analysis and it was run an evaluation of which enrichment technic were the preferred by each animal. The enrichment techniques used were the feeding enrichment (meat popsicle), sensory enrichment (trunk with cinnamon powder), cognitive enrichment (surprise pack) and physical enrichment (cardboard box). This activity was registered using the Ad libitum method, registering the behaviors through video recording. The research was split in 3 phases, in which was insert two enrichment techniques for the animals and in the last phase was usedenrichments that they most interacted from each of the previous phases. Phase 1: physical and sensory enrichment; Phase 2: Cognitive and feeding enrichment; Phase 3: cognitive and sensory enrichment (little spotted cat) and sensory and feeding enrichment (jaguarundi). It was possible to observe differences in the interaction of the individuals with each of the environmental enrichments offered, being identified that the sensorial enrichment (trunk with cinnamon) was preferred by the individuals.